Sony threatens Dbrand with cease and desist order over PS5 darkplates

Sony is threatening legal action against Dbrand, which was until recently selling a peripheral called “Darkplates” for the PlayStation 5. The console manufacturer has sent a cease and desist letter asking that the console peripheral manufacturer stop making the part.

Dbrand began selling Darkplates earlier this year. Gamers who weren’t satisfied with the PS5’s stark white faceplates for aesthetic reasons could replace them with black Darkplates. In an announcement post from Reddit last year, the company responded to a query about Sony taking the Darkplates down with, “We encourage them to try.” They also said “Sue us, Sony” in the post itself.

It seems Sony is threatening to do just that. Dbrand itself posted the C&D letter to Reddit (with commentary), and this is one of the quotes: “Notwithstanding [Sony]’s serious concerns about Dbrand’s conduct and despite your company’s adoption of the tagline “Go ahead, sue us.” – presumably with [Sony] in mind – [Sony] would like to offer Dbrand the courtesy of resolving this matter without the initiation of formal legal action.”

As Dbrand points out in their Reddit-based refutation, the symbols that Sony are claiming the company infringed are the Triangle-X-Circle-Square buttons. Dbrand points out that it’s altered those symbols on the Darkplates so they don’t exactly resemble those used in Sony’s own plates. It also compares itself to a car afterparts manufacturer.

Conversely, Dbrand did literally invite Sony to pursue legal action against them. Seems a bit strange that they’d then turn around and decry the company for trying to do exactly that. A C&D is a fairly standard response to protect a company’s intellectual property.